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kyoshi-lesbians · 4 years ago

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Ty Lee and the air nation

there seems to be misunderstandings about the relationship with race to culture to bending

i see a lot of decent analysis of characters that blend these concepts together in weird ways, especially since the ability to bend gets viewed as a biological trait.

like, no hate on the theory that Ty Lee could be descended from air benders. from what we know about the atla world, that seems plausible. she looks a lot closer to aang than she does any fire nation folks.

but other aspects that go into this theory relies on cultural transference, not biology. people point to her non violence, to her fluid airy movements, and up-beat attitude as similarities to air nation people. if she is part air nation, then she comes from a family of people who are actively passing this culture down to her. it wouldnt be her biology just *making her* this way. that's not a race or ethnicity works y'all know this

and that begs the question

what is the story of her ancestors? what is her family like? Ty Lee's family is so high up in the fire nation social structure that she went to school with the fire nation princess. if Ty Lee is part air nation, if her family has secretly kept their tradition and culture, then they are living in the mouth of the monster that tried to wipe them out but still couldn't.

#fuck now im thinking about Ty Lee's great grandma #like her father is a high level rank in an imperialist regime #so he isnt passing this culture down.#i imagine it comes from her mothers side #ty lees mom had to marry the dad for some political reason #like how zuko's momhad to marry bitchass ozai #so ty lees grandma taught her the culture of air nomads that she learned from her mother #but she has to do it secretly #part of the reason ty lee is so good at fooling azula is bc shes used to hiding this part of her identity #so she gets used to fooling people and saying the right things to avoid suspicion #she plays her cards very close to her chest #and she rly takes to the air nomad dances her grandma teaches her #she learns how to keep that lightness and becomes interested in gymnastics thru it #her grandma teaches her about chi paths and from this she develops her chi blocking technique #ty lee just.... her family carrying on their air nomad culture #even when they have to assimilate into the fire nation to survive; still not letting their culture be lost #fuck ty lee's dad #OH HEY LET ME FINALLY POST THE POST THAT STARTED IT ALL #the origin's of:#storytime: the air nomad #ty lee #i forgot this was in my drafts #r.post

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